


meet me in the middle

by torigates



Category: Bones (TV)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-11
Updated: 2013-11-11
Packaged: 2018-01-01 03:42:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,289
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1039937
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/torigates/pseuds/torigates
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She had to see him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	meet me in the middle

  
_“Because that is the rational and smart thing to do, and he is all about_ that _. I see how he looks at you”_

 

 

 

After the bar Brennan couldn’t sleep. She kept thinking about Booth. The case. Booth. They went to the bar like always. They talked about the case like always. He had dropped her off like always. But she couldn’t leave this case behind her.

She messed up at the bar. Brennan knew that. She also knew it meant something that she knew when it was time to apologize. She wouldn’t have recognized that before, and Brennan wasn’t sure why she was now.

It was… odd. Brennan couldn’t stop thinking about it. About what she and Booth had talked about.

She had to see him.

She didn’t call ahead or bring food. They didn’t have a case that she could use as an excuse for stopping buy. Brennan just wanted to see him. That was different too.

“Bones?” Booth asked groggily when he answered his door. He was wearing only his boxers and was hastily pulling a shirt over his head. “What’s wrong? Are you okay?”

Brennan suddenly felt unsure. “I’m fine, Booth,” she reassured him.

He scratched the back of his head, still looking half-asleep. “What are you doing here?” he asked.

She hesitated. The truth was she wasn’t sure _what_ she was doing. She shouldn’t have come. “You were sleeping,” she said turning. “I should go.”

“Wait, Bones,” he said and opened his door the rest of the way. “Don’t be silly, come inside.” She hesitated another moment. “Come,” he said, and turned towards the kitchen.

Brennan had been in Booth’s apartment before on a few occasions. When he hurt his back, when he had been kidnapped by the gravedigger, but they were hardly ever social visits. It wasn’t that Booth wouldn’t let her in to that part of his life, they had always just kept a certain distance between them.

They spent their time together at the lab, at the diner, at the bar. Close, but not too close.

“What’s on your mind?” he asked. “Do you want some coffee or something?”

Brennan shook her head. Booth’s apartment was so—well, _Booth_. It looked disorganized to Brennan, but she could tell it was a sort of organized chaos. Some of Parker’s things were lying around, and there were dirty dishes in the sink.

“How do you know something is ‘on my mind’?” she asked.

He looked at her. “It’s after midnight. I doubt this is just a visit,” he paused. “Unless it is?” Now he sounded unsure.

Brennan shook her head and wandered into the living room. Booth followed her, sitting next to her on the couch. “Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked.

He was concerned. Booth was always concerned about her. She wanted to ask him a question, but she didn’t know how. “What did you mean earlier?”

“You’re going to have to give me a little more to go on, Bones.”

Brennan spread her fingers over her knee. Booth’s thigh was next to hers, but not quite touching. She clamped her hand down to stop herself from reaching out.

She cleared her throat. “Earlier you – ” she paused. “You said it was the rational thing for Landis to ask me out. What did you mean by that?”

Booth looked away. Brennan watched him, the line of his jaw, the stubble there. It wasn’t often she saw Booth anything other than cleaned shaved.

He looked back and smiled at her. “Of course he’s going to want to take you out,” Booth told her eventually. “You’re smart, beautiful. What guy wouldn’t want to put the moves on you?” He grinned his charm smile, and Brennan thought she was beginning to understand.

“Marks, huh?” she asked. Maybe the marks she had from Booth were the reason she said no.

“Exactly,” Booth said. “Those people,” he paused. “Those people acted like relationships don’t matter. That _people_ don’t matter. I don’t care how smart you are, that’s no way to go through life.

Brennan nodded.

“Is this about the creepy thing?” he asked after a moment when she remained silent. “Because I really am sorry about that, Bones. That place—you’re not like them.”

She smiled. “It’s not about that,” she said. “But thank you.”

Brennan clenched her fists, frustrated. This shouldn’t be so hard. She didn’t understand why this was so difficult. She never had any trouble telling Booth what she thought before.

Maybe that was the problem.

Things had always been so steady between them; it was easy to think that they had always been the same. That wasn’t true. The truth was they had always been moving towards this moment, but it had been slow.

_“Evolution takes thousands of years.”_

Now they were moving so fast, Brennan felt unsure. She felt scared and she didn’t know what to do.

“Hey,” Booth said and covered he hand with his. Her fingers were still clenched tightly into fists, and she was suddenly aware of the dull pain in her palms.

“What is it, Bones? What’s wrong?”

“That’s the problem!” she exclaimed. “I don’t _know_ what’s wrong. I know I didn’t give Landis my number because I thought it would upset you. I know things are different, but I don’t know what it means.”

“Temperance,” he stroked her wrist until she relaxed her fingers. There were four angry red marks on her palms. “You know what it means,” he said softly. “You just don’t know what you _want_ it to mean.”

“I don’t see a difference,” she said.

“You gotta _listen_ , Bones. Listen.”

She sighed. “Booth…” but that was a far as she got. He pulled on the wrist he was still holding, dragging her into his personal space, leaned in and kissed her. Her other hand fell onto his thigh, keeping her balance.

It wasn’t anything like the last time they had kissed. That had been staged, forced, awkward ( _“You don’t lack empathy. You’re awkward, there’s a difference.”_ ).

It was them, but not them. Years later, Brennan would always consider this moment their first kiss.

(“What about the mistletoe?” Booth would always ask when she brought it up.

“That doesn’t count.”

“That’s not rational, Bones,” he teased her.

“It’s not always about that, Booth. You taught me that.”)

Booth’s hand slid up her arm, tugging on her elbow and bringing them closer. His other hand was resting at her hip, and Brennan felt secure. Booth licked into her mouth, and Brennan let out a small sigh.

“Wait,” she said after a moment, pulling back slightly. “Wait, Booth. This is—we should,” she trailed off, not sure what to say.

He smiled shyly. “I thought we were.” He leaned in a kissed her neck.

“No, Booth,” she couldn’t help but grin. “I mean. Booth,” his hand at her hip was distracting her. “Booth, stop!”

“Right,” he said, backing up a little. “Right, sorry. Stopping.”

“What about the line?” she asked him.

“What line?”

“The line,” she said. “The line that you said people who worked together shouldn’t cross.”

He looked at her. “We crossed that line a long time ago, Bones. I think you know that,”

She looked down at her hands. “You’re right,” she said. “How did we get here?”

He smiled at her. “Well I live here,” he told her.

She grinned back at him. Booth was always doing that, making things easy for her. Helping her. “You know what I mean,” she said.

“We were always going to end up here,” he said. “It was just a matter of time.” He grinned again, for real this time.

She grinned back. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

He leaned back in and Brennan met him half way. 


End file.
